Book event - Edinburgh

Public talk and signing. I will be reading extracts from various books (including some books chosen by fans in the audience -- so bring your favourite with you!) and talking a bit about how Zom-B ties in with issues like Brexit and Donald Trump, then signing afterwards. There are no limitis on how many books each fan can get signed -- feel free to bring books from home or buy in the shop.

Venue Location:

Public reading - Limerick

This is an event to tie in with Culture Night 2017. I'll be reading some extracts, not just from my books, but from books that had a big influence on me when I was younger, answering questions and signing afterwards. (But there won't be any books on sale, so you'll need to bring them with you if you want anything signed.) Contact the Hunt Museum to find out if you need to book tickets or whether you can just turn up on the evening.

I'd planned to start cutting back on my touring this year, but actually ended up doing events in every single month of the year! That was the first time that had ever happened, and will quite probably be the last -- it wasn't something I planned in advance, just the way things turned out. Events ranged from the very small (a handful of people in one bookshop) to the massive (950 students in one school). Obviously I prefer it when lots of people turn up to see me, but it's nice to be able to give more time to fans at the less well attended events, so I have a good time regardless!

AUGUST
Saturday 20 - 1.30pm - Edinburgh Book Festival - panel event with Barry Hutchison and Alexander Gordon Smith. 500 people.
Sunday 21 - 10.30am - Edinburgh Book Festival - solo event. I did a special two hour event in which I read out condensed versions of the plots of all 12 books of The Saga Of Darren Shan to celebrate my 12th year at the festival! 500 people.

AUGUST
UK
Monday 17 - 5.30pm - Public, group reading for Amnesty International Imprisoned Writers Series at The EDINBURGH Book Festival.
Tuesday 18 - 10.00am - Public event at The Edinburgh Book Festival. approx 500 fans. signing for 4hrs.

SWEDEN
Friday 23 - a.m. - Two school events in LUND, Sweden. Part of the LiteraLund Book Festival.
Friday 23 - 2.15p.m. - Conference event for adults in LUND, Sweden. Part of the LiteraLund Book Festival.
Saturday 24 - 12.00pm - Public event in LUND, Sweden. Part of the LiteraLund Book Festival.

Another busy year! I visited Norway and Sweden for the first time, and had a fab time in both countries. In the UK and Ireland my tours hit higher heights than ever before, culminating in the mammoth sucess of the Hell’s Heroes tour. In terms of crowds and people turning up, it was my biggest and most successful tour ever!!! The signing sessions went on so long that I often didn't get to my hotel until late at night -- I got a lot less sleep on the tour than I had imagined!!! Some of the stats from my 13 days on the road were:

The longest signing — Waterstones, Bluewater — 6 and a half hours!!!

Average signing time at 13 signing sessions — 2 hours 50 minutes!!!

No signing was less than 2 hours!!! (The first time ever that every signing lasted at least two hours!)

Number of children at school and public events — 3110!!!

It wasn’t my longest tour ever (I’ve cut back from doing 3 or 4 week tours — I’m getting too old for those!!) but it was easily my busiest. I covered a huge amount of ground, met more fans at signings and public events than ever before, and didn’t have a single weak turnout at any session. That’s virtually unheard of on the road — you always get at least one disappointment, where the numbers are lower than average. But this time every single stop was a winner!!!!

2008 - All Events

HUNGARY
APRIL
Friday 25 - 16.00 - Public signing at bookshop in Kecskemét. signing for two and a half hours
Saturday 26 - 10.00 - Public Q&A at Budapest Book Festival.
Saturday 26 - 11.00 - Public signing at Budapest Book Festival. signing for two and a half hours
Saturday 26 - 15.00 - Public signing at Libri Bookshop, Arena Plaza, Budapest. signing for two and a half hours
Saturday 26 - 17.00 - Public signing at Alexandra Bookshop, Arena Plaza, Budapest. signing for two and a half hours
Sunday 27 - 10.00 - Public signing at Budapest Book Festival. signing for three hours

JUNE
Sunday 1 - 11.00am - PUBLIC event at Listowel Festival, Kerry, IRELAND. approx 200+ people
Friday 13 - 12.30pm - School event at Pallaskenry National School, County Limerick, Ireland. This was to officially open the school library, which has been named after me!

AUGUST
Monday 11 - 4.30pm - PUBLIC event at the Edinburgh Book Festival. close to 500 people

JAPAN
JULY
Thursday 5 - Dinner with Japanese publishers.
Friday 6 - Interviews, and dinner with Japanese manga team.
Saturday 7 - Two public signings in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. signing for two hours at each
Sunday 8 - Two public signings, in Kyoto. signing for two hours at each
Monday 9 - School event in Kyoto.

UK / IRELAND
AUGUST
Wednesday 15 - 17.00 - PUBLIC event with Mark Walden at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. approx 100 people
Thursday 16 - 16.30 - PUBLIC event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 8 years in a row!!! 450 + people

SEPTEMBER
Saturday 29 - 10.00 - PUBLIC event at the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature. signed for three hours
Sunday 30 - 12.00 - PUBLIC signing at Waterstones, Unit 1, West Mall, Castlepoint, Bournemouth BH8 9UY.

A VERY busy year on the road!! A huge American tour, two full-on tours of the UK and Ireland, as well as trips to Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Canada!!!!! This was also the year when crowds at public signings in the UK and Ireland increased dramatically -- I'd been getting good crowds for a few years, with occasional massive lines, but now virtually every signing drew a large group. I began to get used to late nights, as I rarely finished signing at the schedule stopping times!!!!

AUGUST
Saturday 12 - 14.00 - Public event at Kilkenny Arts Festival. approx 200 people
Monday 14 - 16.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. seventh year in a row!! approx 450 people

OCTOBER
Saturday 7 - 11.00 - Launch event for Bec at Craggaunowen, County Clare. My third launch party, and the first to be made accessible to the public. A very special day.
Monday 9 - 10.00 - Schools event at Bundoran, County Donegal.
13.30 - School event at Letterkenny, County Donegal.
Tuesday 10 - a.m. - School events in Derry.
16.00 - Public signing at Easons, Foyleside Shopping Centre, Derry.
Wednesday 11 - 10.00 - School event at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Belfast, County Antrim.
14.00 - School event at Corpus Christi College (boys), Belfast, County Antrim.
16.30 - Public signing at Waterstones, 44-46, Fountain St, Belfast, County Antrim. signing for two and a half hours
Thursday 12 - 10.00 - School event at Methodist College Belfast, County Antrim.
Friday 13 - 10.00 - School event at Bow Secondary School For Boys, London E3.
13.00 - School event at Ilford Central Library, Clements Rd, Ilford, Essex. I also collected a Redbridge Award for Best Children's Book of the Year at this event -- nice!!
16.30 - public signing at Newham Children's Books Centre, Newham bookshop, 745-747 Barking Rd, London.
Saturday 14 - 11.00 - Tea with prize winner of a National Library for the Blind competition, in the Alias Hotel, Cheltenham. This was an auction, where the winning bidder got to have a private meeting (and tea!) with me. All funds raised went to support the NLB.
12.45 - Public event at the Cheltenham Book Festival.
Sunday 15 - 17.30 - Public event at the Ilkley Book Festival.
Monday 16 - 10.00 - School event in Doncaster, arranged through Doncaster Library Services.
12.30 - Public signing at Waterstones, 27 Frenchgate Centre Interchange, Doncaster.
16.00 - Public signing at Borders Books, 1-5 Davygate, York.
Tuesday 17 - 10.00 - School event at Borders Books, 94-96 Briggate, Leeds.
Wednesday 18 - 11.00 - School event at Shannon Library, County Clare.
13.45 - School event at Ennis Library, County Clare.
16.00 - Public signing at The Ennis Bookshop, County Clare.
Thursday 19 - 10.15 - School event at Nenagh Library, County Tipperary.
13.45 - School event at Excel Theatre, Tipperary, County Tipperary.
Friday 20 - 10.00 - School event at New Ross Library, County Wexford.
12.30 - School event at Wexford Town Library, County Wexford.
16.00 - Public signing at Hughes & Hughes, Redmond Square, Wexford.
Saturday 21 - 11.00 - Public signing at Hughes & Hughes, Omni Shopping Centre, Santry, Dublin 9.
15.00 - Public signing at Hughes & Hughes, Marine Road, Dun Laoighre, Dublin.
Tuesday 24 - 16.00 - Public event at Dooradoyle Library, Limerick.
Wednesday 25 - 16.00 - Public signing at Waterstones, 77 High St, Staines, Middlesex. signing for two hours
Thursday 26 - 11.00 - Public signing at The Lion & Unicorn, 19 King Street, Richmond, Surrey.
14.30 - Public signing at Waterstones, 100 The Glades Shopping Centre, Bromley.
Friday 27 - 11.00 - Public event at the Guildford Book Festival.
16.00 - Public signing at Waterstones, Broad Street, Reading. signing for two and a half hours
Saturday 28 - 11.00 - Public signing at Borders Books, MSU8, Bullring, Birmingham.
13.30 - Public event at Stourbridge Town Hall, arranged by FCBG (the Federation of Children's Books Groups)
Sunday 29 - 15.00 - Public signing at Waterstones Bluewater, Wets Village, Greenhithe, Kent. signing for three and a half hours
Monday 30 - 10.00 - School event at Bushey Manor Junior School, Grange Road, Bushey.
17.30 - Public event at Waterstones Picadilly, London. I got my publicists, Geraldine and Mary, up to sing with me at this event -- they still give me dirty looks about it now!!!

* * * * * * * * * *

This was the first year that I didn't do any events outside of the UK and Ireland!!! There were a few reasons for staying at home. After so much touring abroad during the previous few years, I was feeling tired, and needed a rest from long-haul flights! Also, my events in the UK were become much bigger than they had been, and demand for events was fierce -- I did two big tours of the UK and Ireland in 2006, and could have easily toured for several more weeks!! Mainly, it's good to have variety when you do a lot of touring -- I hadn't done a huge amount of events at home over the last couple of years, so it was nice to do the rounds here again!

2005 - All Events

JAPAN
JANUARY
Saturday 22 - 10.00 - Two public signings at Maruzen Book Shop, Marunouchi Main Shop, Tokyo. 250 people at each signing .
Sunday 23 - 11.00 - Two public signings at Junkudo Book Shop Main Shop, Dojima, Osaka. 250 people at each signing

IRELAND
Friday 15 - 10.00 - Two school events at the Wexford Book Festival. This was the first time I read out an extract from Lord Loss. It's the scene from the end of chapter 1/start of chapter 2. After the Cirque scene, this is the one I've performed most often in the years since.
Friday 15 - 16.00 - Public signing at Wexford Book Shop, Main Street, Wexford.

HUNGARY
Friday 22 - p.m. - Public signing in Debrecen. approx 300-400 people
Saturday 23 - 10.00 - Public signing at Budapest International Book Fair, Budapest Congress Centre. approx 400-500 people
Saturday 23 - 17.00 - Public signing at Mammut Libri Book Palace, Budapest. approx 600 people. Hungary took me by complete surprise -- I was expecting a quiet weekend, and instead I got my busiest signing sessions ever!! On Saturday I was signing for 9 hours in total -- and signing FAST!!
Sunday 24 - 10.00 - Public signing at Budapest International Book Fair, Budapest Congress Centre. approx 300-400 people
Sunday 24 - p.m. - Public signing in a book store in Budapest. approx 150 people

AUGUST
Friday 19 - 17.00 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book Festival. 6th year in a row! Did a talk about my vampire books at this one. approx 100+ people
Saturday 20 - 13.30 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book Festvial. At this one I spoke about Lord Loss. approx 400 people

2004 - All Events

THAILAND
MARCH
Thursday 25 - a.m. - Book launch event for Tunnels Of Blood in the offices of my publishers, NanmeeBooks, in Bangkok. This was a fabulously fun event -- the publishers transformed the ground floor of their building into a "Darren Shan zone", and invited a select group of Shan fans.
Friday 26 - p.m. - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair.
Saturday 27 - 10.30 - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair. The line was massive for this! I signed for eight hours with only a half hour break, and then another hour at a more relaxed pace.
Sunday 28 - 10.15 - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair. Another hugely busy day -- I signed for almost eight hours, although there were some breaks in the line over the course of the day.
Monday 29 - a.m. - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair.
Tuesday 30 - a.m. - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair.
Wednesday 30 - a.m. - Public signing at the Bangkok Book Fair. Later, I attended the official opening of my publisher's new building.

AUGUST
Saturday 21 - 11.30 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book festival.
Sunday 22 - 10.00 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book festival. This was my fifth year in a row coming to the Festival, and the first year when I played to an audience in the Main Tent, which holds 500 people. Success!!!!!

After my quiet year of touring in 2003, I hit the road with a vengeance in 2004!!! This was also the year when I noticed a marked difference in my stature when out on tour. My trip to the Far East went very well, far better than expected -- I never thought I'd be that busy in Bangkok!!! And then my American tour was a resounding success! I was very worried going into it, in case it would be like my first trip, but by this time word had spread, my fan base had grown, we had plenty of time to prepare for it, and it went brilliantly!!! I think the internet maybe played a part as well -- although I had my web site up and running since 2000, it hadn't attracted a huge number of users in its early years, but now I was getting a serious number of hits every day, and lots of people were joining the site, registering their details, making them easier to contact. The hardest part of doing a tour with lots of public events is actually informing the public that you're going to be there!! The web site has helped tremendously in spreading the word, and although the success of a public signing still rests largely with the venue hosting the event, I usually get at least a handful of people -- sometimes more -- who found out about it through Shanville. And those handfuls can make a big difference when you're out on tour!!!

The biggest, most noticeable difference in my touring pattern, however, came with the Destiny Tour. This was my first big tour of the UK and Ireland for two years, and I was astonished by how things had grown. School events were mostly bigger than they ever had been, and lots of kids at them were familiar with my books. This was the first time we'd included lots of public events and signings -- we were really worried that people wouldn't turn up, but we got huge crowds almost every time! The Destiny tour provided us with the template for all my successive tours of the UK and Ireland. The only thing to change over the next few years was that we started relying less on libraries and more on book shops to organise school events. This was purely practical -- my tours cost my publishers a lot of money, since they have to pay for travel, hotels, food, etc. To justify the running costs of a large tour like this, my publicists needed to be able to show immediate results, and that meant book sales and chart positioning. That meant involving books stores (and particularly the big chains) more closely than previously, in order to boost sales and help the books up the chart.

2003 - All Events

UK / IRELAND
MARCH
Saturday 2 - 14.00 - Public signing at Easons, Limerick.
Thursday 6 - 09.00 - School event at Gaelscoil O'Doghair, Newcastle West, County Limerick.
Saturday 22 - 14.15 - Did an event at the Annual AGM of Schools Libraries Association, Dublin. I was talking to lots of school librarians, but I did it as a normal event, and even got them to act out the Cirque Du Freak scene with me!!!

MAY
Thursday 29 - 11.00 - Public event at Listowel Book Festival, County Kerry. This took place in a room next to a court house, so we had to keep the noise down!!!

JAPAN
JUNE
Saturday 14 - 09.30 - Four public events in a theatre in Tokyo. The theatre had been transformed into a "World of Darren Shan", with elaborate displays about me and my books, cardboard cut-outs of some of the characters, a coffin for me to enter through when I came on stage, etc. etc. I even acted out a scene in Japanese!!! It was a massive, theatrical affair, great fun!!! There were approx 250 people at each event, making a total of about 2000 over the two days.
Sunday 15 - 09.30 - Four public events in a theatre in Tokyo. As above.

SOUTH KOREA
Friday 20 - a.m. - Two school events in Seoul. This was my first time doing a school event in the Far East, and it was very interesting!
Saturday 21 --a.m. - Public event in Seoul. I was meant to carry on with the Far East tour, to China, Taiwan and Thailand, but an outbreak of SARS meant we had to cancel!!!

UK / IRELAND
JULY
Saturday 5 - 11.00 - Signing sessions at War Child Launch event, Waterstones Picadilly. This was an event to celebrate the launch of Kids' Night In. There were two panel events. I wasn't able to take part in them, because I'd originally been scheduled to still be on tour in the Far East, but I did turn up to take part in the signing sessions.

AUGUST
Saturday 9 - 10.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. My fourth year in a row! I did Part 3 of "The Song of Darren Shan", covering books 7 to 9. Signing for 2 hours after.
Saturday 9 - 17.30 - Public panel event at Edinburgh Book Festival. This was a discussion about fantasy books. I did it with Garth Nix and Theresa Breslin.
Sunday 10 - 11.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. For this one, I did my "Shanta Claus" play, in which I turned the short Christmas story on my web site into a play! I sung too!!!!!
Sunday 10 - 17.30 - Public panel event at Edinburgh Book Festival.This was an event to promote Kids' Night In, which I did with Annie Dalton and Garth Nix. I read out some of my short story, "Hagurosan", and spoke about how I was inspired to write it.

SEPTEMBER
Saturday 27 - 17.30 - Public event at Polka Theatre, Wimbledon, London. approx 220 people -- one of the largest public events I'd done in the UK to that date.

A MUCH quieter year on the road!! In fact, I virtually took the year off! I did a few events close to home, and the Edinburgh Festival, but not much more in the UK and Ireland. I was supposed to do a big trip of the Far East and USA in the middle of the year, but SARS put paid to most of the Far East events, and my American publishers decided to wait and bring me back later. And I only did the Australia and New Zealand events because I was over there on a long holiday and it made sense to do a few events while I was there. This was actually an important year for me -- not touring meant I was able to spend more time writing, and get well ahead of my publication schedule. It's a delicate juggling act, mixing long tours with writing. I never write on tour, so I always have to ensure I give myself enough time at home over the course of any year to get my work done. I was feeling a bit pressured after three years on the road, so it was time to take a break and focus on my books -- after all, they're the most important things, and without good books to promote, there's no point touring!!!

2002 - all events

UK / IRELAND
FEBRUARY
Saturday 2 - 12.00 - Public event at O'Mahony's Bookshop, Limerick. This was the start of my Vampire Prince tour in the UK and Ireland, the first time I had specifically toured "with" a new book.
Monday 4 - 10.30 - Two school events at Waterstones 128 Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Monday 4 - 18.00 - Public event at Edinburgh Dungeons. This was one of my favourite events to date! approx 100 people.
Tuesday 5 - 11.30 - Two School events at Waterstones, 1-5 Bridle Gate, Nottingham. I left my plastic hand behind in Edinburgh, by accident, so I had to go and try and find a new hand in Nottingham! I found a battered-looking specimen in a second-hand store (no pun intended!!), and decided it would do for a short-term replacement. But I enjoyed using it so much - it looks VERY realistic! - that I ended up keeping it and am still using it all these years later!!!
Wednesday 6 - 11.00 - School event at Hammicks, Grange Precinct, Birkenhead, Merseyside.
Wednesday 6 - 13.30 - School event at St Alban's school, Merseyside.
Thursday 7 - 11.00 - Two school events at Waterstones, Bentall Centre, Wood St, Kingston Upon Thames. It was at this event that a young lady who introduced herself as Bas came up to me and asked if I'd give her a short story for a book she was putting together. She ended up getting not just a story, but me as well!!!!!
Friday 8 - a.m. - Two school events at Waterstones, 20-22 Sidney St, Cambridge.
Monday 11 - a.m. - School event at Sutton Central Library, St Nicholas Way, Sutton.

MARCH
Monday 11 - 18.00 - Public event at Waterstones, Canterbury.
Tuesday 12 - 09.50 - Two school events at St Paul's School, London.
Wednesday 13 - 11.00 - School event at Churchill Theatre, High Street, Bromley, Kent (arranged through Bromley Library). approx 800 people -- by far my largest event to that date, and still one of my biggest all these years later!
Thursday 14 - 10.00 - School event on The London Eye. For World Book Day, The London Eye was taken over for a few hours, and a children's author was assigned to each pod, with a small group of kids, the idea being to do an event in the time it took for the wheel to revolve once (half an hour). Lots of the writers complained about it afterwards, and didn't feel it was a suitable venue, but I had quite a good time with my bunch!!!
Thursday 14 - 13.40 - School event at the Tate Modern. This was also part of the World Book Day extravaganza, and I did an event with a good-sized group of kids in the Tate Modern Art Gallery after my turn on the wheel.
Friday 15 - 09.30 - School event at Heffers Bookshop, Grafton Centre, Cambridge.
Wednesday 20 - 09.30 - School event at Nas Na Riogh shop, Naas, Kildare.
Thursday 21 - 10.00 - School event at Tallaght library, Dublin.
Thursday 21 - 12.00 - School event at Castletymon library, Dublin.
Tuesday 26 - 11.00 - Two school events at Haberdashers' Aske's, Pepys Road, New Cross, London.

ITALY
APRIL
Thursday 11 - p.m. - An event at the Bologna Book Festival, for publishers from many of the countries where my books are published. I did the Cirque Du Freak scene and got several of my publishers to help me act it out! A very fun night!!!

U.K. / IRELAND
Monday 15 - 12.00 - University event at Roehampton University, London. This was the university where I went as a student. I accepted an invite to return and do an event for a group of English students who were mostly specialising in children's literature.
Wednesday 17 - a.m. - School events (3 or 4) arrange by The Children's Bookshop, Pinner.
Wednesday 17 - 19.30 - Public event in Grimsdike School, Sylvia Road, Pinner, arranged by the Children's Bookshop.
Tuesday 23 - 11.00 - School event at King Alfred's School, Manor Wood, North End Road, NW11, arranged by Bookworm Bookshop, Finchley Road, Golders Green.

MAY
Saturday 4 - 13.15 - Public event at Stourbridge Town Hall, Birmingham.
Tuesday 28 - 10.00 - Public debate, followed by event, at Young People's Parliament Millennium Point, Birmingham. I took part in a debate about whether books should be seen (as a movie) or read, and I had to be on the movie side of the argument. Enjoyed the debate a lot, then did a normal event and signing afterwards.

JAPAN
JUNE
Sunday 9 - 12.00 - Two public events in Asahi Yashoten bookshop in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. This was my first exposure to true Shan mania!! I went to Japan for the World Cup, to support Ireland, and did two events while I was there. The books were HUGELY popular (some of them even topped the overall bestseller chart!), and I was far more famous out there than at home. I met 300 fans at each event, handed them a book each, and posed for photos. There was no time to sign books, unfortunately. I had bodyguards, fans were weeping and shaking ... it was bizarre! But in a totally great way!!!

UK / IRELAND
JULY
Monday 8 - a.m. - School event in London, at a school where Bas's sister-in-law worked.

AUGUST
Monday 10 - 10.30 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book Festival. My third year in a row. I did "The Early Years" at this event, where I focused on the first 3 books of the series and wrote a short play, in which the plot of each book was seen from the view point of another character -- Steve in Book 1, Sam in Book 2, Murlough in Book 3. I still do these scenes occasionally, but not often.
Monday 10 - 14.00 - Public signing at Waterstones, 128 Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Monday 10 - 16.30 - Public panel event at Edinburgh Book Festival. This was an event where authors were asked to talk about one of their favourite books, and read a short extract from it. I chose The Secret Garden. Vivian French and Humphrey Carpenter were the other two authors.
Tuesday 11 - 13.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. In this one I did "The Song of Darren Shan - Parts 4 to 7", which was the plots of those books set to rhyme. (This was a follow-up to the event I did there the year before, when I set the first 3 books to rhyme.)

NOVEMBER
Tuesday 5 - a.m. - School events at St Williams R.C. School, Durham, part of the Northern Children's Book Festival.
Tuesday 5 - 13.30 - School events at Wingate Junior School, Durham, part of the Northern Children's Book Festival.
Wednesday 6 - a.m. - School events in Darlington, part of the Northern Children's Book Festival.
Saturday 9 - 13.00 - Public signing at Waterstones Belfast.
Tuesday 12 - 18.00 - Launch party for Allies of the Night, at Simon Drake's House of Magic. I don't do many launch parties -- this was my first since Cirque Du Freak in 1999, and I wouldn't do another until Bec in 2006 -- but when I do them, I do them with style!! This was a great night in a spooky, magical house.
Friday 29 - 16.30 - Public signing at The Ennis Bookshop. When I went there earlier in the month, copies of Allies of the Night (the book I was promoting) failed to arrived in time, so I agreed to return to sign copies for disappointed fans.
Friday 29 - p.m. - School event in Western Limerick.
Saturday 30 - 12.00 - Public signing at O'Mahony's Bookshop, Limerick. When I went there earlier in the month, copies of Allies of the Night (the book I was promoting) failed to arrived in time, so I agreed to return to sign copies for disappointed fans.

DECEMBER
Monday 2 - 18.30 - 10 Downing Street event. Went to a party to celebrate children's books at 10 Downing Street, where I got to meet Tony Blair and his family. Lots of authors were here, and I think I was a last-minute addition to the list -- my invite came VERY late!! For a full account, click here to read my tongue-in-cheek report: http://www.darrenshan.com/monthly/archive/2002/12-dec.html
Monday 19 - 15.00 - Public signing at The Children's Bookshop, 1 Red Lion Parade, Bridge Street, Pinner, Middlesex.

* * * * * * * * * *

A definite step up to another level on the touring front. I did a huge number of events, including my first really successful foreign events (in Japan), culminating in the massive October/November Allies of the Night tour. I had a real sense by this stage of the books grinding forward at an advanced rate in the UK, attracting more and more fans, making the sort of waves which they didn't in the first two years. I still wasn't a bestseller in the UK, by any stretch, but I was buzzing along nicely in Ireland, where the three books I released in 2003 all went to the #1 spot on the children's chart!!! And Japan was just amazing!! The books were also doing well in lots of other countries around the world, and it wouldn't be much longer before my tours would go truly global. The Allies tour built on the touring experience of 2001, but it's interesting to note I still hadn't reached the level where we felt comfortable giving me lots of public events. I did a few at the weekends on tour, testing the waters more than anything else, but three years into my touring career, we still didn't think it was the right time to do lots of after-school events or signings.

2001 - all events

UK / IRELAND
JANUARY
Wednesday 24 - 11.10 - Two School events at Park Hill Junior School, Croydon, London. I THINK this might have been the first time that I used a fake plastic hand in my Cirque Du Freak scene!! I noted in my diary that this was "one of the highlights of my tours so far".
Thursday 25 - p.m. - School event at Centre for the Child in Birmingham City Library.
Thursday 25 - 18.00 - After-school event with Northfields Teenage Reading Group. approx 9 people
Friday 26 - a.m. - School event in Ealing, arranged by Children's Book Centre.

MARCH
Thursday 1 - 10.00 - Two school events at Longsight Library, Manchester, for World Book Day.
7th to 9th - I was scheduled to do events in Dublin on these dates, but a Foot & Mouth outbreak led to all public events of htis kind being cancelled for a while!!!
Friday 30 - a.m. - School event at Sutton Park School, Dublin.
Friday 30 - p.m. - Two school events at Mount Temple Comprehensive, Dublin. This was where the boys from U2 went to school when they were kids!!

THE NETHERLANDS
APRIL
Saturday 7 - a.m. - Two public events at the ELF Fantasy Fair, Alphen a/d Rijn. My second trip abroad, and another disaster!! This was the fair's first year, and they hadn't quite thought it all through. When I got there, I discovered they hadn't arranged a place for me to give my talks! They stuck me in an utterly inadequate, echo-filled room for my first event, then in a public walk-through for my second go! I was meant to do a third event, and three more the next day, but I'd had enough! I stormed out and caught an early flight home!!!!

JUNE
Friday 1 - a.m. - School event in Gaelscoil O'Doghair, Newcastle West, County Limerick. I launched Vampire Mountain at this event.
Sunday 3 - night - Went on a Haunted Tour of Edinburgh with a small group of children.
Monday 4 - a.m. - School event at Royal High School, Edinburgh.
Tuesday 5 - a.m. - Two school events in Waterstones Newcastle.
Wednesday 6 - a.m. - Two school events in Halfax, arranged by The Children's Bookshop in Huddersfield.
Thursday 7 - a.m. - Two school events in Sutton, arranged by The Children's Bookshop in Sutton.
Friday 8 - a.m. - Three school events in Pinner, arranged by The Children's Bookshop in Pinner.
Friday 8 - p.m. - Public signing in The Children's Bookshop, Pinner. This was my first public signing (as opposed to public event) where I got a large crowd. In my diary I said "I felt like a real star -- just a pity it had to end!!!"
Saturday 23 - 14.00 - Public signing in Easons, Limerick. Was signing for an hour.

AUGUST
Sunday 19 - 16.15 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. Bigger crowd than year before. Signing for an hour.
Monday 20 - 10.30 - School event at Library in Leith.
Monday 20 - 16.30 - Public event at Edinburgh Book Festival. I did a second solo event at the Festival this year, in which I spoke about the creative process of writing my books. Didn't enjoy it much, and haven't done events like that very often in the years since. It's why I never do workshops or the like -- I prefer having fun at my events!!!

U.S.A.
Friday 26 - 14.00 - Signed stock at Alexander Book Co, San Francisco, CA. They only had a handful of copies in the store!!! Not the most promising of starts to my first ever American tour!!!
Friday 26 - 19.00 - Public event at Kepler's Bookshop, Belmont, CA. approx 20 people
Saturday 27 - 09.30 - Public signing at Milligan News, San Jose, CA. A book fair where people came to buy books at a discount.
Saturday 27 - 16.00 - Public event at Barnes & Noble, San Jose, CA. approx 10 people
Sunday 28 - 12.00 - Signed lots of stock in Copperfields Bookstore, Petaluma, CA.
Sunday 28 - 16.00 - Public event in Codys bookstore, Berkeley, CA. approx 20-25 people
Monday 29 - p.m. - Signed stock in Storyopolis, Los Angeles, CA.
Monday 29 - 15.30 - Public event at Torrance library, CA. a handful of people
Tuesday 30 - 16.00 - Public event at A Whale of a Tale bookshop, Irvine, CA. a handful of people
Tuesday 30 - 19.00 - Public event at Newport Beach Libraray, CA. approx 15 people
Wednesday 31 - 10.00 - School event at Yellow Book Road, La Mesa, CA. approx 100 people

NOVEMBER
Thursday 1 - 10.30 - School event at White Rabbit Bookstore, La Jolla, CA. exactly 2 people!!! The store owners "couldn't get" a class to come in, but rather than cancel, they let me come, then rustled up two bewildered girls to come and chat with me. Worst school event I've ever been involved with!!!
Thursday 1 - 19.00 - Public event at Borders, San Diego, CA. the first really good turn-out of the tour.
Friday 2 - 12.30 - Signed stock at Marshall Fields, Chicago, IL. A few people dropped in to have their books signed while I was there, including a boy who had driven 5 hours to see me -- my first encounter with the kind of hardcore American Shan fans who would make later tours of the States a true pleasure!!!!
Saturday 3 - 14.00 - Public event at Amderson's Bookstore, Naperville, IL.
Sunday 4 - p.m. - Public event at Crocodile Pie, Libertyville, IL. a handful of people
Sunday 4 15.00 - Public event at The Bookstall, Chestnut Court, Winnetka, IL. a handful of people
Monday 5 - 09.15 - School event at Waubonsie Valley High School, IL. approx 60 people
Tuesday 6 - 16.00 - Public event at Tatnuck Booksellers, Worcester, MA. a small group
Wednesday 7 - 10.00 - Two school events at Gates School, Scituate, MA.
Wednesday 7 - 12.30 - School event at Deerhill School, Cohasset, MA.
Wednesday 7 - 15.00 - Signing event at Buttonwood Books, Cohasset, MA.

FRANCE
Tuesday 20 - p.m. - School event in a bookstore in Strasbourg. approx 120 people. This was the first time I did a translated event. It went more smoothly than I feared, though obviously it was a bit more stop-start than my usual events!
Wednesday 21 - 11.00 - Signing session at a bookstore in Paris. As at my last signing event in this city, nobody showed up!!! Another no-show in Paris -- merde!!!!!
Wednesday 21 - 15.45 - Another signing session at a store in Paris. This time I got a handful of people -- hurrah!! In my diary I noted, "More proof - if any was needed - that public signing sessions just don't work." And I stand by that statement -- if you're a children's author, you need to have a VERY strong, established fan base to make a public signing worthwhile.
Thursday 22 - a.m. - School event in a book store in Lille. a small group.

U.K. / Ireland
Friday 23 - p.m. - School event in Sheffield, at the Lyceum Theatre. I was here for the Sheffield Children's Book Award -- Cirque Du Freak was nominated, and it received 2nd place, behind Holes by Louis Sacher. It was my first award -- and it would be a long time until my second!!!

NOVEMBER
Saturday 1 - 14.00 - Public signing at Easons, Limerick. A great crowd -- was signing for two and a half hours, my longest signing session to date!!! A nice way to finish my touring for the year.

* * * * * * * * * *

This was a year of learning curves. I'd done a lot of touring in 2000, but this was the first time I did a lot of concentrated touring, with many events packed into a short space of time. The tours I undertook in June and October became the template for what would eventually become my regualr touring pattern -- hit fast and hard!!!! It was a frustrating time in many ways -- two years after the release of Cirque Du Freak, I still hadn't built up the sort of fan base which would allow me to do lots of public events or signings, and I was still having to endure lots of small school and library events. But that was all part of the growing process. Things rarely happen quickly in the world of children's books, and even if your books are doing well (and while I wasn't coming anywhere near bothering the top of the charts in the UK or the USA, my books were selling very well), you have to go out there and EARN your audience. As small as many of the school and library events were, and as sparsely attended as the public events and signings were, I gave my all and put on the best show I could, and those who did come went away impressed, and told their friends, and spread the word ... and that played a very important role in getting word out there and helping the books to reach much bigger audiences. Touring when you're a new author takes a lot of time, and it can be disappointing, and you have to work hard, and there will be days when you feel like you're achieving nothing -- but in the long run it IS worth it, and a writer must always have at least one eye on the long term!!!!!

2000 - all events

IRELAND
MARCH
Thursday 9 - 09.00 - School event at an all girls primary school in Booterstown, Dublin. MY FIRST EVER EVENT!!!!! approx 50 - 60 people
Thursday 9 - 11.15 - School event at ILAC Centre Library, Dublin.
Friday 10 - 10.00 - Three school events in O'Mahony's Book Shop, Limerick, for World Book Day. approx 50 -60 at each event
Wednesday 22 - 10.00 --Two school events in O'Mahony's Book Shop, Ennis, County Clare. (THIS WAS ALSO THE DAY THAT MY WEB SITE WENT LIVE!!!!)
Thursday 23 - 11.30 - School event in Baltimore, County Cork. (This was video-linked to another school in Cork -- the first time that I've done an event to two schools at the same time!!!!!)
Thursday 23 - 13.30 - School event in Skibereen library, County Cork.
Friday 24 - 11.00 - School event in Schull, County Cork. (This was also video-linked to another school -- the second and, to date, final, time that I've done an event to two schools at the same time!!!!!)
Friday 24 - 13.30 - School event in Bantry, County Cork.
Friday 31 - afternoon - Two school events at Askeaton primary school, County Limerick.

APRIL
Wednesday 5 - a.m. - School event at library in Donaghmeade, Dublin.
Wednesday 5 - p.m. - School event in Coolock library, Dublin. (Had to cut this one short, as rather than monitor the students, the teachers stood at the back, talking rather loudly, which led to chaos!!)
Thursday 6 - a.m. - School event in Ringsend library, Dublin.
Thursday 6 - a.m. - School event in Pembroke library, Dublin.
Thursday 6 - p.m. - After-school event in Rathmines library, Dublin. ("Flighty" librarian arranged what proved to be my first PUBLIC event -- 6 kids were there!!!!)
Friday 7 - 10.00 - Two school events at an all girls school in Terenure, Dublin. (First time I used a microphone at an event!!) approx 100 people in each event

MAY
Saturday 20 - 11.30 - CBI event at Marino Institute of Education, Dublin. This was an event for adults, mostly librarians and teachers -- my first ever event for grown-ups.
Tuesday 23 - 10.30 - School event in New Ross library, County Wexford.
Tuesday 23 - 15.30 - Public event in Waterford library. My first official public event -- got a pretty good crowd.
Friday 24 - p.m. - Two school events in Glin, County Limerick.
Tuesday 30 - p.m. - School event in Pallaskenry primary school, County Limerick.

JUNE
Friday 2 - a.m. - Panel event at Listowel Writers Festival, County Kerry.
Saturday 17 - 13.00 - Public event at O'Mahony's bookshop, Ennis, County Clare. This was my first public event at a weekend -- it was disastrous, with a crowd of just 7 or 8 kids!!!

JULY
Tuesday 11 - p.m. - Public event at Ballymun library, Dublin.

AUGUST
Saturday 26 - 10.00 - Public event at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Scotland. This was my first time at a Book Festival. I had a crowd of about 50 people, which I was delighted with! I fell in love with Edinburgh and the Festival, and have been back every year since!!!

OCTOBER
Monday 16 - 11.30 - School event at Tallaght library, Dublin. approx 80 people
Tuesday 17 - 10.45 - School event at Ballymun library, Dublin. approx 110 people
Tuesday 17 - 13.00 - School event at Ballyfermoy library, Dublin. approx 20 people
Wednesday 18 - a.m. --Two school events in Galway city library. approx 60 people at each event
Wednesday 18 - 15.30 - Public event in Tuam library, County Galway. 10 kids turned up! As I noted in my diary, "post-school gigs are a BAD idea!" New writers about to launch your careers -- take note!!!!
Thursday 19 - 10.30 - Two school events in Eason's, County Limerick. approx 30 people in each event

U.K.
Monday 23 - p.m. - Public event at The Walker LIbrary, Newcastle. This was my first event in the UK, and it was an unmitigated disaster!! The train up to Newcastle from London took 4 hours, it took 4 and a half hours to get back, and only 20 or so people turned up the event!!! To cap it all, when I got back to my hotel that night, there was no hot water!!!!!!! A very inauspicious start to my UK touring career ...
Tuesday 24 - 11.00 - School event at Electric Theatre, Guildford.

FRANCE
Wednesday 25 - 15.00 - Public signing at WH Smith, Paris. This was my first ever public signing, and some genius had the idea of letting me make my public signing bow in a foreign country, where there was no translated version of my books available, only English language copies. Nobody came. Not even one. Quel surprise!! Even all these years later, I'm still astonished by how somebody, somewhere thought this was a good idea!!!

U.K.
Tuesday 31 - a.m. - Two school events in Mayflower School, Billericay. These were big groups, and they bought lots of books. Was signing for an hour and a quarter, my busiest signing session to that date.

An interesting first year on the road! The difficult thing when you're a new writer is trying to take your work to people. If you can establish yourself, it's easy -- schools, book stores and libraries come looking for you. But in the early days you have to struggle to convince them to take a chance on you. The staff at Collins had to actively go hunting for libraries and schools and stores to take me in. It wasn't easy, and every event was a notch on our belt of success, even those where the numbers were small. As word spread that I was good at talking to kids, and that kids were interesting in my books, ears pricked and invites began to trickle in. But we had to work VERY hard to stimulate that interest. You can't afford to be picky when you're starting out in this business -- you have to go wherever you're wanted, say yes to as many events as you can squeeze in, and do all that you can to create a bit of noise, to attract attention and move on to bigger things. I was lucky, living in Ireland -- because it's a small country, word spread quicker than it might have in a larger place, and I was able to build up a buzz here which helped propel me on to tackle the UK and other countries. I've never forgotten how much I owe those librarians, teachers and book sellers who gave me a chance in the early days -- it's why, no matter how popular I've become abroad, I always work in at least a few Irish events every year -- for me, this is my home territory, where I learnt most of my lessons, and without the early support here, I might never have gone on to have my success elsewhere.